| An analysis of national survey data on new prescription opioid use suggests that opioids are sometimes being used as a first-line or early resort treatment for pain, contrary to best practices. The study was conducted by researchers from the Mayo Clinic and the National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health and was recently published in The Journal of Pain. The authors used data from the 2019â2020 National Health Interview Survey (NHIS) Longitudinal Cohort (NHIS-LC), a nationally representative, population-based study of U.S. adults with a 1-year follow-up. They applied Andersenâs socio-behavioral model of health care utilization, which examines five variable sets that may interact and influence the use of health services: the external environment, predisposing factors, enabling factors, health need measures, and personal health behaviors. | 